We both stood there for no more than probably two minutes before a female TSA agent (apparently, the supervisor) arrived. She described to me that because I had opted out of the backscatter screening, I would now be patted down, and that involved running hands up the inside of my legs until they felt my groin. I stated that I would not allow myself to be subject to a molestation as a condition of getting on my flight. The supervisor informed me that it was a standard administrative security check and that they were authorized to do it. I repeated that I felt what they were doing was a sexual assault, and that if they were anyone but the government, the act would be illegal. I believe that I was then informed that if I did not submit to the inspection, I would not be getting on my flight. I again stated that I thought the search was illegal. I told her that I would be willing to submit to a walk through the metal detector as over 80% of the rest of the people were doing, but I would not be groped. The supervisor, then offered to go get her supervisor.

I took a seat in a tiny metal chair next to the table with my belongings and waited. While waiting, I asked the original agent (who was supposed to do the pat down) if he had many people opt out to which he replied, none (or almost none, I don't remember exactly). He said that I gave up a lot of rights when I bought my ticket. I replied that the government took them away after September 11th. There was silence until the next supervisor arrived. A few minutes later, the female agent/supervisor arrived with a man in a suit (not a uniform). He gave me a business card identifying him as David Silva, Transportation Security Manager, San Diego International Airport. At this point, more TSA agents as well as what I assume was a local police officer arrived on the scene and surrounded the area where I was being detained. The female supervisor explained the situation to Mr. Silva. After some quick back and forth (that I didn't understand/hear), I could overhear Mr. Silva say something to the effect of, "then escort him from the airport." I again offered to submit to the metal detector, and my father-in-law, who was near by also tried to plead for some reasonableness on the TSA's part.

The female supervisor took my ID at this point and began taking some kind of report with which I cooperated. Once she had finished, I asked if I could put my shoes back on. I was allowed to put my shoes back on and gather my belongs. I asked, "are we done here" (it was clear at this point that I was going to be escorted out), and the local police officer said, "follow me". I followed him around the side of the screening area and back out to the ticketing area. I said apologized to him for the hassle, to which he replied that it was not a problem.

Somebody wake up Obama an' get her out of there...National Border Patrol Council: Napolitano giving false sense of securitySaturday, March 26, 2011 - The law enforcement-based union that represents all 17,500 non-supervisory U.S. Border Patrol agents says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitanos comments this week reassuring Americans that the U.S. border is safe and open for business are wrong and give citizens a false sense of security.

It is time for the political games to stop for fear of insulting the government of Mexico, the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) said in a statement. U.S. citizens are being kidnapped and killed while our Border Patrol agents fight a war at home that no one will allow them to win. Not one more Border Patrol agent should fall or citizen be victimized because our government fails to act, the NBPC said. Mexico is hemorrhaging violence and we are being hit with the splatter.

Ms. Napolitano told border-area mayors and business leaders in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday that the U.S.-Mexico border is safer than ever, adding that perceptions that the border area is at its most dangerous right now are false. She said the Obama administration is dedicated to ensuring that the Southwest border remains open for business amidst drug cartel violence in Mexico and that increased security should not come at the price of trade, travel and tourism. The Obama Administration has dedicated historic levels of manpower, technology and infrastructure to the Southwest border to ensure the safety of border communities, and these resources have made a significant impact, she said. Some of Americas safest communities are in the Southwest border region, with border city crime rates staying steady or dropping over the past decade.

But the NBPC said the violence that has occurred along the border in recent years shows that crime is spilling over from Mexico, noting that Border Patrol agents, ranchers and citizens have been killed, kidnapped, shot at and targeted and that the Phoenix area has risen to become a cartel-related crime hotspot. If the border was better now than it ever has been, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry would not have been brutally murdered by heavily-armed Mexican criminals operating over 13 miles inside the United States, the NBPC said. In some countries, that is construed as an act of war, but here we get words not deeds when Napolitano terms events like this as evidence there is much to do with our colleagues in Mexico with respect to the drug cartels.

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